Christmas Escapes Books in Order

Christmas Escapes spins off from Julie Caplin’s travel romances and leans fully into festive sparkle. The first book, Christmas on Fifth Avenue, trades her usual European villages for a grand New York hotel at the height of the holiday season. Strings of lights, giant trees and window displays are as much a part of the story as the central couple.

In that opening novel, Evie Green becomes an accidental internet sensation when a viral video turns her Christmas dream into public humiliation. A luxury Manhattan hotel spots an opportunity and whisks her across the Atlantic for a high-profile seasonal stay, hoping good publicity will rub off on them as well. At the same time, disgraced footballer Noah Sanderson is hiding out there, desperate to avoid cameras and questions.

Their solution, at least from the hotel’s point of view, is a fake festive romance that can be photographed, packaged and sold. Forced proximity, snowy walks and staged dates follow as Evie and Noah navigate media expectations, private hurts and the odd moment of genuine connection. The book plays with classic romcom ingredients, from meet-disasters to red-carpet rescues, but grounds them in two people who are both trying to rebuild their lives.

Christmas Escapes keeps the hallmarks of Caplin’s travel fiction, especially detailed sense of place. Here, instead of tucked-away cafés and fishing harbours, you get Fifth Avenue in full December mode, complete with department stores, ice rinks, theatre outings and late-night hot chocolate. Later books promise other iconic festive destinations, but the focus remains the same, seasonal comfort, makeshift families and a reminder that the end of the year can also be a beginning.

While there are nods to the wider universe of her Romantic Escapes novels, the Christmas books are designed to be picked up on their own. They are ideal when you want something that feels like a holiday movie in book form, with extra attention paid to the city backdrop and all the small rituals that make this time of year feel special.